OT UK Fifty thousand holidays cancelled

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http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/uk/newsid_681000/681970.stm

Saturday, 18 March, 2000, 09:11 GMT

50,000 holidays cancelled

Holiday makers cancel trips to shop for better deals Holidaymakers have cancelled some 50,000 trips booked for this year amid expectations of falling prices for holidays abroad.

Many holidaymakers who signed up last year for "buy now, pay later" deals have now ripped up their agreements in search of cheaper offers, according to the travel industry's trade magazine, Travel Weekly.

Poor holiday sales for this summer mean that travel companies are slashing prices.

Although the "pay later" deals offered a 15% discount and did not require a deposit, holiday makers are finding they can now shop around for better offers.

40% discount

Some tour companies are offering 40% off package deals for Spain, Greece and Cyprus this summer.

And of the 50,000 people that cancelled their planned break, some have not booked a new trip, which could result in a glut of unsold holidays.

That could mean an additional fall in prices, further benefiting consumers.

In 1999 Britain's biggest package holiday firm Thomson Travel was hit by poor demand for millennium breaks and last-minute summer deals.

It recently announced a 38% fall in profits for last year.

-- viewer (justp@ssing.by), March 18, 2000


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